The present invention relates to a process for programming a device for generating auditory signals intended to be heard by people suffering from tinnitus. It also relates to a device implementing such a process, of which the characteristics of the signals generated are adapted specifically to the audiological characteristics of an individual in order to promote the disappearance or alleviation of tinnitus in this individual.
By tinnitus is meant the perception of noises in the ear or in the head which do not correspond to any acoustic signal in the environment. The nature of these noises and the intensity with which they are manifested can vary according to the case. Generally, the nuisance caused by tinnitus can be considerable to the subject; it can become debilitating and lead to serious psychological disorders, in particular mood and sleep disturbances. Moreover, most people who suffer from tinnitus also have a more or less serious hearing loss.
In a standard fashion, a person suffering from tinnitus is offered different types of treatments, the actual effects of which are not always conclusive. Pharmacology represents the most common method of treatment, but none of the substances prescribed has any demonstrated beneficial effect, and certain of them even have negative effects, to the extent of aggravating the nuisance caused by the tinnitus.
There are also tinnitus-masking devices which are systems delivering a sound signal into a patient's ear, in order to render the tinnitus inaudible, either directly and immediately, by perceptual masking, or progressively, by virtue of a process of physiological habituation.
The tinnitus maskers proposed at present pose several problems:                the signal-generation possibilities of these systems are very limited. In fact, in most cases, they do not make it possible to produce a single type of signal with very simple spectral characteristics, which considerably limits the possibilities of adaptation to the particular case of each patient.        moreover, the existing maskers are generally presented in the form of hearing aids. This type of device puts off a number of tinnitus patients, especially the younger ones, who do not have sufficient hearing loss to need to wear a hearing aid, and do not wish to give the impression of suffering from a handicap.        finally, the insufficient adaptability of these maskers to the particular case of each tinnitus sufferer makes them ineffective and even, in certain cases, aggravates the severity of the disorder.        